Why can my tax dollars go places in Lexington I can't???
I have gone to some gated areas in our town, talking to the gatehouse guard
about entrance--and while I almost always had a reason for admission, I
have been turned away. This galls me. As a taxpayer (and you, too) I help
pay for: the roads in such communities and their upkeep, fire and police
protection for its members. My tax dollars enter; why can't I?
The same is true of some areas in Lexington, one near where I live, where
street parking is restricted to those who live along that street. Again, I
helped pay for those streets, curbs and sidewalks; I help pay for fire and
police protection; why shouldn't I be able to park there? (Has this ever
been tested in the courts?)
I have resisted offering a motion to my own neighborhood association (whose
streets are much narrower, with higher traffic than the nearby area!), or
suggesting to the Fayette County Neighborhood Council that all 130 of its
member groups do the same. That would just be ridiculous and tie up parking
even worse than now. But, why do we allow it anywhere?
That approach, and of "gated communities" in my book are fundamentally
UN-democratic and highly exclusionary. It is "us against them" and the basis
for the exclusion is, 99.44% of the time, money. Not my idea of the American
way of life.
Gated communities should not be permitted unless they are willing to pay
totally for streets and fire and police protection; and all the other civic
amenities our taxes support. I could not argue against that; thogh I think
it is still UN-democratic. And, as Grouch Marx once said: (read gated community
for club); "I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a
member!"
I'm just sayin'...
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
TO MY FELLOW PROCRASTINATORS
I guess to err is human; to put things off may be even more so.
And I am, or can be, a procrastinator.
I just wish public officials would be better about this; those chickens come home to roost, and cause problems for the rest of us.
Two items in the continuing debate over budgets,on the city and state level, come to mind. Because properly funding pensions of public employees were put off for years, both by Lexington and Kentucky, that bill has now come due and it is much higher than it would have been had the job not been put off at the time. And we, you and I, pay the higher bill.
Same with "deferred maintenance." Our new UK president has properly complained about dorms and offices needing repairs and upgrades, because scheduled repairs were put off in years past. Now the bill is higher. And who pays that higher bill? Students, parents, Kentuckians.
Mark my words: while an attempt is being made, seriously, to get state and city pensions under control, some things will be put off, again, probably maintenance issues; for streets and highways and schools; you name it.
Darn, I wish my elected officials weren't such procrastinators...but 'tis easier to not raise taxes by putting off needed expenditures and pass the higher bill on to later officials and taxpayers than to deal with it now.
It may be human nature..as well as political expediency..but drat, I wish they were better people than the rest of us, even me.
Now, let me end writing this: I've got to go figure out if I can put off working on my taxes to another day, not as nice as this lovely spring morning. I think I'll wait til the next stormy day.
I'm just sayin'...
And I am, or can be, a procrastinator.
I just wish public officials would be better about this; those chickens come home to roost, and cause problems for the rest of us.
Two items in the continuing debate over budgets,on the city and state level, come to mind. Because properly funding pensions of public employees were put off for years, both by Lexington and Kentucky, that bill has now come due and it is much higher than it would have been had the job not been put off at the time. And we, you and I, pay the higher bill.
Same with "deferred maintenance." Our new UK president has properly complained about dorms and offices needing repairs and upgrades, because scheduled repairs were put off in years past. Now the bill is higher. And who pays that higher bill? Students, parents, Kentuckians.
Mark my words: while an attempt is being made, seriously, to get state and city pensions under control, some things will be put off, again, probably maintenance issues; for streets and highways and schools; you name it.
Darn, I wish my elected officials weren't such procrastinators...but 'tis easier to not raise taxes by putting off needed expenditures and pass the higher bill on to later officials and taxpayers than to deal with it now.
It may be human nature..as well as political expediency..but drat, I wish they were better people than the rest of us, even me.
Now, let me end writing this: I've got to go figure out if I can put off working on my taxes to another day, not as nice as this lovely spring morning. I think I'll wait til the next stormy day.
I'm just sayin'...
Monday, March 12, 2012
ADDING INSULT TO INJURY
Two thirds of the tornado deaths in Kentucky and Indiana took place in mobile homes.
Yet, for years the Kentucky legislature has failed to require tie-down straps on such homes. (There are some minimum federal requirements, but no state rules.) Why? Officials know that tie-down straps do make such homes safer. So, after Brandenburg in '74, and many other places in the intervening years, to West Liberty in '12, why no such requirement?
Lobbying by the "manufactured housing" industry would be my guess. If that upsets you, and I hope it does, ask your local representative, senator, or county Judge-Executive to get such straps passed into law. It's late in the session this year; but it will be even later in the next session, because while we have a tornado season every year, our legislature hasn't gotten the message since '74, and won't even now unless citizens insist. They lobby, we vote.
And speaking of voting, they're at it again. You would have thought the legislature would have gotten the message after the Supreme Court, unanimously, in the quickest session in recent memory, held the legislative redistricting plan to be illegal. But no. Not at all.
The court indicated the new maps split too many counties, beyond limits set forth in our constitution. Many, myself included, have urged a bi-partisan commission to propose new maps every 10 years for an up-or-down vote--as many other states do. But no. A senate proposal would amend our constitution to RAISE the number of counties that may be split and still have the new maps be legal. More "incumbency protection."
If passed by the legislature,(please tell your local representative "Hell No!"), and voters this fall, then--once again, when Republicans control the Senate, Lexington's Kathy Stein could be sent to Siberia, and if the Democrats control the Senate, David Williams would need long-johns. Neither deserve that fate. Nor does Democracy.
Let's end this farce and get on to voting on some serious issues such as the constitutional amendment which IS on the ballot; preserving our rights to hunt and fish, which as you all know, have been under serious challenge.
I'm just sayin'...
Yet, for years the Kentucky legislature has failed to require tie-down straps on such homes. (There are some minimum federal requirements, but no state rules.) Why? Officials know that tie-down straps do make such homes safer. So, after Brandenburg in '74, and many other places in the intervening years, to West Liberty in '12, why no such requirement?
Lobbying by the "manufactured housing" industry would be my guess. If that upsets you, and I hope it does, ask your local representative, senator, or county Judge-Executive to get such straps passed into law. It's late in the session this year; but it will be even later in the next session, because while we have a tornado season every year, our legislature hasn't gotten the message since '74, and won't even now unless citizens insist. They lobby, we vote.
And speaking of voting, they're at it again. You would have thought the legislature would have gotten the message after the Supreme Court, unanimously, in the quickest session in recent memory, held the legislative redistricting plan to be illegal. But no. Not at all.
The court indicated the new maps split too many counties, beyond limits set forth in our constitution. Many, myself included, have urged a bi-partisan commission to propose new maps every 10 years for an up-or-down vote--as many other states do. But no. A senate proposal would amend our constitution to RAISE the number of counties that may be split and still have the new maps be legal. More "incumbency protection."
If passed by the legislature,(please tell your local representative "Hell No!"), and voters this fall, then--once again, when Republicans control the Senate, Lexington's Kathy Stein could be sent to Siberia, and if the Democrats control the Senate, David Williams would need long-johns. Neither deserve that fate. Nor does Democracy.
Let's end this farce and get on to voting on some serious issues such as the constitutional amendment which IS on the ballot; preserving our rights to hunt and fish, which as you all know, have been under serious challenge.
I'm just sayin'...
Monday, March 5, 2012
LESSONS FROM THE TORNADOES
"A tornado is the most violent and unpredictable form of Nature."
I learned that lesson during 9 years in Indiana, a state with more tornadoes than here, covering a few of these tragic events. As a reporter in a small station, I doubled as weatherman occasionally; just reading the AP reports from the weather service, not predicting, in the very early days of TV weather coverage.
How different things are today! How very much better last week when many of us prepared ourselves and families for taking precautions as the 3 Lexington stations did a marvelous job of trying to keep us safe.
Weather is a staple of local TV, but only because station management spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment and people annually. I hired the first meteorologist on Lexington TV, and the second, backed totally by station management; and it spread to the other two. In time, jockeying for the latest generation of weather computers became an important factor in local TV news leadership. The results really showed last week--in one of television's greatest ironies.
TV succeeds, financially, on attracting the most viewers so commercials may be sold at a higher rate. Yet, during severe weather, there are no commercials! Regularly scheduled programs are taken over nonstop by weather/news coverage. At a time of maximum audience, when commercials could be sold at a premium, the stations devoted themselves totally to operating "in the public interest, convenience and necessity" as their charter provides.
Thank you WTVQ management and weather staff! Thank you WLEX management and weather staff! Thank you WKYT management and weather staff, where long time chief meteorologist T.G. Shuck signed off after 20 years on the very day of the twisters!
Hail and Farewell, T.G. (Welcome back Chris Bailey) And again, thanks to local TV station management and staff for a job well done and for savings lives I have no doubt.
I'm just sayin'...
I learned that lesson during 9 years in Indiana, a state with more tornadoes than here, covering a few of these tragic events. As a reporter in a small station, I doubled as weatherman occasionally; just reading the AP reports from the weather service, not predicting, in the very early days of TV weather coverage.
How different things are today! How very much better last week when many of us prepared ourselves and families for taking precautions as the 3 Lexington stations did a marvelous job of trying to keep us safe.
Weather is a staple of local TV, but only because station management spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment and people annually. I hired the first meteorologist on Lexington TV, and the second, backed totally by station management; and it spread to the other two. In time, jockeying for the latest generation of weather computers became an important factor in local TV news leadership. The results really showed last week--in one of television's greatest ironies.
TV succeeds, financially, on attracting the most viewers so commercials may be sold at a higher rate. Yet, during severe weather, there are no commercials! Regularly scheduled programs are taken over nonstop by weather/news coverage. At a time of maximum audience, when commercials could be sold at a premium, the stations devoted themselves totally to operating "in the public interest, convenience and necessity" as their charter provides.
Thank you WTVQ management and weather staff! Thank you WLEX management and weather staff! Thank you WKYT management and weather staff, where long time chief meteorologist T.G. Shuck signed off after 20 years on the very day of the twisters!
Hail and Farewell, T.G. (Welcome back Chris Bailey) And again, thanks to local TV station management and staff for a job well done and for savings lives I have no doubt.
I'm just sayin'...
Monday, February 27, 2012
One Right...One Very Wrong!
House Speaker Greg Stumbo professed not to be worried. He knew the redistricting bill passed by the Democratic House and the Republican Senate would pass constitutional muster. He even arranged for a top flight constitutional attorney to be hired (at your expense, taxpayer!) to argue the case before the Kentucky Supreme Court.
The court heard arguments in the morning, and a few hours later issued a unanimous opinion the new districts were unconstitutional. This is the legal equivalent of a Slam Dunk. So that senator from Henderson doesn't get to represent Fayette County, and Kathy Stein doesn't have to move to Bath County. Hoo-ray, hoo-ray!
All very important. Much more important is that the legislature realize its hand will be called in the future when it practices more "incumbent protection." But, the legislature will almost always try to do just that. Let's head them off in 2021--now. Let's get started on a bi-partisan commission to draw new districts and submit them to the legislature...as free from political considerations as possible for an up/down vote. Other states do; it's past time for Kentucky to join those ranks. But it won't happen unless the ACLU, Common Cause, major papers, League of Women Voters, etc. start working now for this truly important change.
Guess what? David Le Terrible was Rat On! He told the guv there weren't enough votes in the Senate to pass the casino amendment, and there weren't. Not by a long shot; that one absent vote made no difference. The guv cried "sabotage" but it wasn't, just the Senate President being a much better vote counter.
Now what? Well, if I supported such an amendment I'd put up huge billboards so that as people entered and left the Commonwealth they'd be told just how much of our money was being sent to Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia gambling establishments. And I'd put up an even "huger" billboard in Frankfort, just like the National Debt Clock, and keep track of the millions going out of state that could be spent here on roads, schools, and health care.
There certainly are arguments against the casino amendment that just failed. There is no argument that a lot of badly needed Kentucky dollars are going out of state. Somehow, we need to get them back.
I'm just sayin'...
The court heard arguments in the morning, and a few hours later issued a unanimous opinion the new districts were unconstitutional. This is the legal equivalent of a Slam Dunk. So that senator from Henderson doesn't get to represent Fayette County, and Kathy Stein doesn't have to move to Bath County. Hoo-ray, hoo-ray!
All very important. Much more important is that the legislature realize its hand will be called in the future when it practices more "incumbent protection." But, the legislature will almost always try to do just that. Let's head them off in 2021--now. Let's get started on a bi-partisan commission to draw new districts and submit them to the legislature...as free from political considerations as possible for an up/down vote. Other states do; it's past time for Kentucky to join those ranks. But it won't happen unless the ACLU, Common Cause, major papers, League of Women Voters, etc. start working now for this truly important change.
Guess what? David Le Terrible was Rat On! He told the guv there weren't enough votes in the Senate to pass the casino amendment, and there weren't. Not by a long shot; that one absent vote made no difference. The guv cried "sabotage" but it wasn't, just the Senate President being a much better vote counter.
Now what? Well, if I supported such an amendment I'd put up huge billboards so that as people entered and left the Commonwealth they'd be told just how much of our money was being sent to Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia gambling establishments. And I'd put up an even "huger" billboard in Frankfort, just like the National Debt Clock, and keep track of the millions going out of state that could be spent here on roads, schools, and health care.
There certainly are arguments against the casino amendment that just failed. There is no argument that a lot of badly needed Kentucky dollars are going out of state. Somehow, we need to get them back.
I'm just sayin'...
Monday, February 20, 2012
Two of My Favorite Four Letter Words
Two of my favorite four letter words are "film" and "free"; and for the past two Sundays I have indulged each at the annual One World Film Festival--and you can,too. Many more interesting free films remain.
Two Sundays ago I saw "The Rape of Europa", how the Nazis looted fine art treasures from conquered countries, some of whom sixty years later have yet to return them to their known owners or heirs. And that includes some of the Allied countries.
This past Sunday it was "Inside Job", how the housing collapse happened, and how some of the same people who should have seen it coming--and acted, didn't...yet they are still in charge today! (The lesson is that every time Congress yields to pressure from the business community and deregulates certain industries, or fails to provide adequate oversight, bad things happen; and they are getting worse!)
Ahead are films as different as underground youth music in Iran, how trying to solve our energy problems may lead to more problems, how 9/11 and Afghanistan are related (it's not the Taliban), and the gay riots at New York's Stonewall club.
Most of these are at the Kentucky Theater on Thursdays at 5 and 7:30, the weekend films on Saturdays and Sundays are at the central library or at Transylvania. Many are in English, the rest have subtitles. A complete schedule is at www.oneworldfilmfestival.org.
Try them--somewhere is one you will enjoy and will add to your knowledge and pleasure. And they're free!
Two Sundays ago I saw "The Rape of Europa", how the Nazis looted fine art treasures from conquered countries, some of whom sixty years later have yet to return them to their known owners or heirs. And that includes some of the Allied countries.
This past Sunday it was "Inside Job", how the housing collapse happened, and how some of the same people who should have seen it coming--and acted, didn't...yet they are still in charge today! (The lesson is that every time Congress yields to pressure from the business community and deregulates certain industries, or fails to provide adequate oversight, bad things happen; and they are getting worse!)
Ahead are films as different as underground youth music in Iran, how trying to solve our energy problems may lead to more problems, how 9/11 and Afghanistan are related (it's not the Taliban), and the gay riots at New York's Stonewall club.
Most of these are at the Kentucky Theater on Thursdays at 5 and 7:30, the weekend films on Saturdays and Sundays are at the central library or at Transylvania. Many are in English, the rest have subtitles. A complete schedule is at www.oneworldfilmfestival.org.
Try them--somewhere is one you will enjoy and will add to your knowledge and pleasure. And they're free!
Monday, February 13, 2012
MEMO TO LOCAL TV STATIONS:
Folks, it is the winter season. Sometimes it even snows...but that is no reason to bend your news judgment and head the newscast with a report that a light snow may be heading our way; making it the "Big Story"...that is after we get the "Breaking News"--half a day old, and a "Developing Story", and maybe even a "Follow Up."
BTW, "dusting" is a word not to be used in any Lexington weather-cast, even when said in jest.
And one more local advertiser has used a fake news report to promote its product. Shame on KIA.
More shame on our station managers who continue to dilute their most important service, local news, by allowing such pseudo-newscasts on their air; as in that fake home security system interview. Years ago, when all 3 stations belonged to the Radio-TV News Directors Association, that group's Code of Conduct forbade using commercials which mimicked newscasts. The Code is gone, so what's next--a pitchman/woman on a news set..."I'm not a reporter but I play one on TV, and I'd like to tell you about this great offer...?"
We're in a ratings period, so we have the Monday Mystery, and various other features designed to get you to watch. I wish stations would spend the time and energy on exploring issues before the legislature: redistricting (has anyone seen a map illustrating this most important issue on local newscasts?), those cold remedies that also support meth labs, the need for extra social workers, why courts in our 120 (!) counties can't talk to each other and alert authorities to the baddies amongst us...or...so many others.
Have you noticed the plethora of ads supporting public charter schools? Enough to float a political campaign; and from groups that just popped up (including one with the intriguing initials: KERA) Who are they? Who funds them? Why this issue now? Surely worth looking into. Shirley.
Finally, since most local news room staffs are young, and lack what J-Schools call "institutional memory", it was no wondner the recent death of former UK First Lady Gloria Singletary didn't get the coverage it deserved. For those of us privileged to know her, she truly deserved her nickname "Glo." She did; the UK projects she championed did; UK and Lexington are much better off because she lived among us.
I'm just sayin'...
BTW, "dusting" is a word not to be used in any Lexington weather-cast, even when said in jest.
And one more local advertiser has used a fake news report to promote its product. Shame on KIA.
More shame on our station managers who continue to dilute their most important service, local news, by allowing such pseudo-newscasts on their air; as in that fake home security system interview. Years ago, when all 3 stations belonged to the Radio-TV News Directors Association, that group's Code of Conduct forbade using commercials which mimicked newscasts. The Code is gone, so what's next--a pitchman/woman on a news set..."I'm not a reporter but I play one on TV, and I'd like to tell you about this great offer...?"
We're in a ratings period, so we have the Monday Mystery, and various other features designed to get you to watch. I wish stations would spend the time and energy on exploring issues before the legislature: redistricting (has anyone seen a map illustrating this most important issue on local newscasts?), those cold remedies that also support meth labs, the need for extra social workers, why courts in our 120 (!) counties can't talk to each other and alert authorities to the baddies amongst us...or...so many others.
Have you noticed the plethora of ads supporting public charter schools? Enough to float a political campaign; and from groups that just popped up (including one with the intriguing initials: KERA) Who are they? Who funds them? Why this issue now? Surely worth looking into. Shirley.
Finally, since most local news room staffs are young, and lack what J-Schools call "institutional memory", it was no wondner the recent death of former UK First Lady Gloria Singletary didn't get the coverage it deserved. For those of us privileged to know her, she truly deserved her nickname "Glo." She did; the UK projects she championed did; UK and Lexington are much better off because she lived among us.
I'm just sayin'...
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